Translanguaging is the idea that a bilingual child has one integrated language repertoire, and that teachers can plan for children to use all of it, Vietnamese, English and any home language, to understand, think and express themselves, instead of treating each language as a sealed box. In a preschool it shows up as a child explaining a block tower in a mix of languages, a teacher previewing a story in Vietnamese before reading it in English, or a group comparing how each of their languages names the same fruit.
Translanguaging is not the same as having no language plan, and it does not mean adults translate everything. Used well, it sits inside a clear allocation of languages and makes that allocation kinder and more effective. This article explains where the concept came from, how it differs from the older idea of code-switching, what it looks like with children aged two to six, and which deliberate strategies teachers can build into their planning.
Where the idea came from
The term began in Wales. In the 1980s and early 1990s the Welsh educator Cen Williams described a teaching practice, which he called trawsieithu, in which pupils received information in one language and worked with it or reported on it in the other, so that understanding was deepened by moving between Welsh and English. The educational researcher Colin Baker rendered the term into English as translanguaging, and for some years it remained a description of a specific classroom technique in Welsh bilingual schools.
The concept was broadened considerably by Ofelia García, whose 2009 book on bilingual education in a global perspective, and later work with colleagues such as Li Wei, used translanguaging to describe how bilinguals actually use language: not as two separate systems switched on and off, but as a single repertoire from which speakers select features according to the situation. From this view, schools that insist on strict separation can unintentionally teach children that the way they naturally speak is wrong.
The idea has been influential and also debated. Some researchers worry that in settings where one language is far stronger, enthusiastic translanguaging can let the dominant language take over, which is a real concern in a Vietnamese preschool where English is the weaker, school-supported language. Others distinguish between children's spontaneous translanguaging, which is accepted as natural, and teachers' planned translanguaging, which is a deliberate pedagogical tool. That distinction is the most useful one for early-years practice.
How translanguaging differs from code-switching
Code-switching is the older term, and it describes language use from the outside: a linguist observes that a speaker moved from language A to language B at a certain point in a sentence. It is a well-studied phenomenon, and research on code-switching has long shown that it is rule-governed and skilful rather than random. A child who says "con muốn the red one" is not confused; she is choosing the most available word for her meaning, often within patterns that adult bilinguals in her community also use.
Translanguaging shifts the viewpoint to the inside. Instead of asking where one language stops and the other starts, it asks what the speaker is trying to do and how she is using all her resources to do it. For teachers, the change in viewpoint matters because it changes the response. If mixing is seen as interference, the instinct is to correct. If it is seen as resourcefulness, the instinct is to take up the meaning and help the child extend it.
In practice both terms are still used, and teachers do not need to adopt a theoretical position to work well. The practical lesson is simple: children's mixing is information about what they know and what they are reaching for. A child who always says the colour words in English and the action words in Vietnamese is telling her teachers where her English is strong and where to build next.
What it looks like with children aged two to six
With toddlers, translanguaging is mostly invisible because it is simply how they talk. A two-year-old may use whichever word she learned first for each thing, so "nước" for water and "ball" for ball, regardless of who she is talking to. Teachers respond by naming the item in their own language as part of a natural exchange, and over months the child builds pairs of words and starts choosing by listener.
From about three, many children become aware that different people speak differently and begin adapting, sometimes with great sensitivity: a child may speak English to the international teacher, Vietnamese to the cook and a third language to a grandparent at pick-up. They may also start playing with languages, inventing funny mixed words or deliberately using "the other teacher's" language as a joke. This is metalinguistic awareness emerging, and it is worth noticing and valuing.
By five and six, children can take part in explicit comparisons: how do we say "thank you" in all the languages in our class? Why does Vietnamese need a word like "con" or "chiếc" before some nouns when English does not? Which words sound almost the same in two languages? These conversations are short and playful, but they build the kind of awareness about language that supports later reading and writing in both languages.
Planned strategies teachers can use
Preview, view, review. Introduce a story or activity briefly in one language, carry it out in the target language, then review the key ideas in either language. Children who are weaker in the target language still grasp the core meaning and can follow the main session.
Bilingual retelling. After a story is read in English, invite children to retell it in any language, in pairs or with a puppet. The teacher listens for understanding, not for which language is used, and picks up key phrases to revisit.
Word comparisons. During circle time, look at one familiar word across all the languages in the room, especially the home languages of international children. It honours every child and builds awareness that language is a system with patterns.
Family language contributions. Invite families to record a song, a greeting or a short story in their home language for the class. Children hear that every language belongs in school, and the child whose language is shared often grows visibly in confidence.
Strategic bridging by adults. When a key concept is new, such as floating and sinking, an adult may check understanding in the child's stronger language before continuing in the target language. The bridge is short and purposeful, not a running translation.
One theme, planned with translanguaging in mind
It helps to see how this works across a real week rather than as isolated tricks. Imagine a class of four-year-olds starting a theme on fruit from the market. On Monday the Vietnamese teacher leads a conversation about the fruit children eat at home, with real fruit on the mat to touch and smell, and children name them in whatever language they know. Several international children contribute words from home, and the teacher repeats each one with interest.
On Tuesday the English-speaking teacher reads a picture book about a market, having previewed the story briefly in Vietnamese at the end of Monday so that every child knows the basic plot. During the reading, she points, gestures and pauses for children to join repeated phrases. Afterwards children retell the story with fruit props in pairs, using any language. Midweek the class cuts and tastes fruit, with the cooking talk mainly in English, while the Vietnamese teacher checks the concepts of whole, half and pieces with children who look unsure.
On Friday the closing circle compares how each language names the favourite fruit of the week, and children vote on which word sounds funniest. Across the week, each language has had protected time, key concepts have been secured, and every child's languages have been heard. That is planned translanguaging in its ordinary, unglamorous form.
What translanguaging is not
Translanguaging is not concurrent translation, the practice of saying everything twice, once in each language. Studies of the concurrent translation method in bilingual classrooms in the 1970s and 1980s found that children tended to wait for the version in their stronger language and tune out the other, so the weaker language received little real attention. Saying everything twice also halves the time available for actual conversation.
It is not a reason to abandon protected time for the weaker language either. In a Vietnamese preschool, English needs enough sustained, meaningful use to grow, and a classroom where the adults drift into Vietnamese whenever it is easier will not provide that. The allocation plan stays in place; translanguaging describes how adults use the other language on purpose and how they respond to children's choices.
Finally, it is not a free pass for adult habits. A teacher who mixes languages constantly without thinking may be modelling a pattern that children cannot learn from, because they never hear extended, well-formed speech in either language. The aim is for adults to be good models of each language and deliberate users of both, while children are free to use everything they have.
Children who bring a third language
Many classes in Ho Chi Minh City include children whose home language is neither Vietnamese nor English: Korean, Japanese, Chinese, French and many others. For these children, a strictly separated Vietnamese–English model can make school feel like a place where their own language does not exist. A translanguaging stance gives teachers a reason and a way to include it.
Small steps make a large difference. Learn how to say the child's name correctly and a few comfort words in her language. Ask the family for the words the child uses for toilet, water, food and sleep. Include picture books in her language in the reading area when families can lend them. During word comparisons, invite her to contribute. When she is upset and has not yet built enough Vietnamese or English, accept that she will comfort herself in her own language, and stay close rather than insisting on words.
These children are often learning two school languages at once while maintaining a third at home, and they may be quieter for longer. That is normal and is discussed in our article on the silent period. The key message for families is the same as for Vietnamese-speaking families: keep the home language rich, because it is the base on which school languages are built.
Using translanguaging as evidence in observation
For teachers who keep observation notes and learning stories, children's language choices are valuable data. A note that records exactly what a child said, including which words were in which language, captures far more than a tick next to "uses English". Over a term, a series of such notes shows how a child's repertoire is expanding: which domains have moved into English, which are still Vietnamese only, and where the child is now choosing her language by listener.
This kind of record is especially useful when talking with families. Parents often worry when they hear their child mixing languages at home. Showing them a sequence of real quotes, with an explanation of what each one shows, helps them see progress rather than confusion. It also helps teams decide where to focus planning, for example by noticing that a group of children has rich English for play but almost none for feelings, and building that into the next theme.
Observation of this kind never becomes a score. The point is to understand each child, not to rank children by how much English they produce.
Câu hỏi thường gặp
Is translanguaging the same as mixing languages?
Not exactly. Mixing describes what can be heard; translanguaging is a way of understanding bilingual language use as one repertoire and, in teaching, a set of planned strategies that let children use all their languages to learn. Children's mixing is one natural part of it.
Does translanguaging mean teachers translate everything?
No. Saying everything twice is concurrent translation, which tends to make children ignore the weaker language. Planned translanguaging uses the other language briefly and on purpose, for example to preview a story or check a key concept, within a clear language plan.
Will translanguaging reduce children's English exposure?
It can if adults drift into the stronger language whenever it is easier. That is why planned translanguaging sits inside protected time for English. Used deliberately, it improves understanding of English sessions rather than replacing them.
Who first used the term translanguaging?
It began with the Welsh educator Cen Williams, who described the practice as trawsieithu in Welsh bilingual schools. Colin Baker rendered it into English, and Ofelia García and colleagues later broadened it into a wider theory of bilingual language use and education.
How can a preschool include a home language no teacher speaks?
Learn the child's name and comfort words, ask the family for key everyday words, borrow books or recordings in that language, invite the child to contribute during word comparisons, and accept that she may comfort herself in her home language while she builds school languages.
Should children be corrected when they answer in the other language?
No. Teachers take up the meaning and continue the conversation, naturally modelling the target language in their reply. Correcting language choice tends to make young children speak less, which slows learning in every language.